Frictional Behavior and Mechanical Performance of Al Reinforced with SiC via Novel Flake Powder Metallurgy

Nabeel H Alharthi,Saud M Almotairy,Abdulrahman M Almutairi

doi:10.3390/met12020323

Abstract

This paper targets developing new low-cost sustainable materials. To achieve this objective, aluminum was utilized as base material for metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNC). Three routes of advanced manufacturing techniques were designed and implemented. Flake powder metallurgy as a reliable method to synthesis nanocomposites powder was employed. By reinforcing aluminium with SiC and using a similar amount of both constitutes, three metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) with different properties were produced. The ball milled powder were characterized using filed emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) to analyze the morphology of the powder. Different investigations and analysis were conducted on the produced samples. These include X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, density and porosity, mechanical properties, and frictional performance. The obtained results include relative density, Young’s modulus, compressive yield strength, elongation, toughness, hardness, coefficient of friction, and specific wear rate. Achieving superior mechanical and tribological performance is evident from these results. This is accredited to the homogeneity of the reinforcement dispersion within the aluminum matrix.

Highlights

The curiosity toward developing low-cost sustainable materials is in an ascendant trend in the recent decades
This can be endorsed to the distinctive design of the manufacturing process for this nanocomposite, utilizing the advantages of flake powder metallurgy, employing the shifting speed, and achieving the steady state in powder synthesis
Both test results showed that the specific wear rate of S2 is very low in comparison to the other two nanocomposites produced in this study

Summary

Introduction

The curiosity toward developing low-cost sustainable materials is in an ascendant trend in the recent decades. The mixing stage can be utilized in high-energy ball milling (HEBM); if, the difference between the particle size of the base matrix and the nano–reinforcement, agglomeration of nanoparticles could take place [41,42], hindering the formability of the composites in the subsequent process [43,44,45]. For this reason, PM is not the ultimate proper technique for uniform distribution of nanoparticles within the matrix. To compose the new materials, aluminum fine powder of 30 μm average size obtained from Loba Chemie (Mumbai, India) were reinforced by 2 wt.% of SiC nanoparticles with an average size of 60 nm bought from Alfa Aesar (Kandel, Germany)

Ball Milling Processing Routes

Consolidation

Characterizations and Testing

Morphological Analysis

Compression Test

Conclusions